Sequential Blasts

In less than a day two large-scale coronal mass ejections (CMEs) erupted into space (Aug. 19-20, 2013). The first and larger one is called a ?halo CME? because the spreading front edge of the particle cloud extends all around the Sun. If you are quick, you can also see a comet (seen as a faint streak) approaching the Sun from the lower left just before the first eruption. The images were taken by STEREO?s COR2 coronagraph in which the Sun (represented by the white circle) is blocked out by a black occulting disk so that we can see fainter structures beyond it. This same event was observed from a different angle by SOHO and featured here: http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/23aug2013/